Court of Appeal allows defilement conviction appeal and orders retrial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal has allowed a man’s appeal against his conviction for defiling a child under 17 and ordered a retrial. The court found that a trial judge’s comment on the man’s age-related defence risked preventing the jury from considering it properly.

The man had been sentenced to two years in prison, with the final year suspended, but the custodial part was deferred. He was granted bail pending appeal and, according to the judgment, had not served any part of the sentence. The jury had acquitted him of a separate sexual assault charge arising from the staff party.